Khoe-San first to split from other humans

Southern Africa's bushmen, and their relatives the Khoe, veered off on their own path of genetic development 100,000 years ago, according to a new study.  The split, gleaned from an analysis of genetic data, is the earliest divergence scientists have discovered in the evolution of modern humans.

The vampire squid is neither a squid nor an octopus

Biologists say they have unlocked secrets about the vampire squid, a mysterious creature that feeds on the decaying dead in the unlit depths.

Ancient text suggests founder of Christian Mythology was married

Four words on a previously unknown papyrus fragment provide the first evidence that some early Christians believed Jesus of Nazareth had been married.

Most “junk” DNA not junk

DNA formerly called “junk” is involved in important activities called transcription factor association, chromatin structure and histone modification. These functions ultimately involve influencing the activity of traditional genes.

Scrub jays found to react to their dead

West­ern scrub jays sum­mon oth­ers to screech over the body of a dead jay, ac­cord­ing to new re­search from the Uni­vers­ity of Cal­i­for­nia, Da­vis. The ca­coph­o­nous bird “fu­ner­als” can re­portedly last for up to half an hour, though their pur­pose is un­known.

Record-distance galaxy may confirm theories

A galaxy has been detected at possibly a record distance from us, and its size is consistent with mainstream theories that hold the earliest galaxies were small.

Sharks see world as 50 shades of grey

Sharks are colour blind, a new molecular study has confirmed, filling a gap in our knowledge about the evolution of colour vision. The evolution of colour vision has been studied in most vertebrates, but until recently, elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays) had been overlooked. Previous physiological research has shown some rays have colour vision but it suggested sharks were colour blind.

Post-dinosaur mammals were fat and slow

A near complete fossil of an ancient mammal proves it wasn't much of a runner.  Many of the mammals that emerged right after the non-avian dinosaur extinction were hearty creatures, as exemplified by Ernanodon.  The skeleton that is the focus of the study is nearly complete, revealing how this early mammal looked in the flesh and lived.  Ernanodon was a badger-sized, rather chunky mammal with a short square skull, extremely reduced dentition and big claws on the forelimbs.

Missing supernova mystery solved

A large number of dying stars called core-collapse supernovae are not detected because they are obscured by galactic dust.

Ancient genome offers clues to human waves

Scientists have sequenced the complete genome of a Denisovan, an ancient human, from a tiny finger bone fragment.  Their work provides the most detailed picture yet of the human that lived alongside Neanderthals and contributed to the genetic heritage of people living in Southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea and possibly Australian Aborigines.

'Rocket dust' kicks up storms on Mars

Explosive vertical storms cause the layers of dust that float kilometres above the Martian surface, new research suggests.

Brain 'switches between maths and memory'

New research, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, boosts our understanding of how the brain switches from being internally focused (ruminating) to focusing on a task in the outside world.